There are a few folks mentioning that they are having computer problems. OK, granted; if your computer ain't working right, it gets tricky getting here sometimes. But sometimes there are workarounds like work or libraries or internet cafes.

Maybe sharing the problem you have might help somebody else avoid the same. Or, while discussing the problem(s), somebody will have encountered the same problem or is encountering the same problem to a greater, equal or lesser extent.

While it is usually helpful to speak to something "using the proper terminology", using highly technical terms like "thingie" works just fine ... eventually. <g> Please don't feel like you have to suffer under something because you are concerned that you might not sound as knowledgable as someone else. After all; "the only stupid question is the one not asked", right?

Ain't no sense in having that thing sitting around your home acting like a door-stop or paper holder when you could be using it to surf from where you can be comfortable.

Let's see if we can grow a "Destee Family Tech Support Team", or something helpful like that, and save a buck or two.

"using highly technical terms like "thingie" works just fine" - i loved that line.

what a gr8 idea! who here, xcept glad & manasiac hvn't xperienced tech problems w their pc's? we had a sister n chat who's pc wuz so old, she nicknamed it 'DINO'. i kinda miss dino, & the sister who use 2 b n chat when dino permitted.

can i ask a ? could this also b a place where we mention software/hardware which has proven particularly helpful to us? or, shld that b another thread?

i mention that b/c i'm thinking how helpful it could b 2 the destee community (since it's so large now, & growing) 2 kno about software, shareware, & free dwnloads which r actually useful, as well as those that turn out 2b useless.

since u started the thread, what do u think?

anyway, :weights: move on ur part 4 starting this thread.

:spin:

can i ask a ? could this also b a place where we mention software/hardware which has proven particularly helpful to us? or, shld that b another thread?

i mention that b/c i'm thinking how helpful it could b 2 the destee community (since it's so large now, & growing) 2 kno about software, shareware, & free dwnloads which r actually useful, as well as those that turn out 2b useless.

since u started the thread, what do u think?:idea: I think that would be a great idea! And I think that that would be a great topic for another thread. It might even turn into a couple more: one for good tech and one for bad tech? Or should that be one for hardware and one for software?

But about them downloads; gotta be careful that they aren't :danger: contaminated :danger: with malware (spyware, adware, keyloggers, virii, trojans, rootkits, blah, blah, !dangerwillrobinson!). Wouldn't want folks to come down with something from a recommendation found here. :nono: Wouldn't quite fit the family-type spirit ... although sometimes that "sibling rivalry" stuff can get pretty intense! But not online 'cause that could possibly be grounds for legal action, not to mention potential damage to the Family Reputation!

this guy wants $150 to down load all the stuff off a hard drive and reformat it.
is that too much?

this guy wants $150 to down load all the stuff off a hard drive and reformat it.
is that too much?does "reformat the drive" include re-installing windows, the drivers and all your applications? do you still have the installation media for the applications you want to put back on it? and the installation media for the peripherals? (video, sound, motherboard, possibly monitor.) if you are talking reinstalling everything after reformatting, then that would be fairly reasonable, given that there may be a necessity to hunt down some drivers.

is it worth 150 to you? you can get pretty close to 100 gig hardrive for that kinda money. or a cd-burner for less and then burn what you want to cd and reformat the drive yourself. heck, one could get a dvd burner for less than 150, i'm pretty sure. a cd will hold around 700 meg and a dvd will hold about 4.7 gig. how much data are you trying to back-up?

i reckon shops are chargin something like 50, 75 or more per hour for shop time (it's prolly more back east, tho). (i'm in wa state) i reckon that could be fairly "reasonable", but i'd say that it's about your comfort level; if you're more comfortable letting someone else do it, talk `em around to a price that's comfortable to you.

i've always been a do-it-yourselfer. guess it's something i got from my dad: i'll just dive in and try to figure it out for myself, if it's "broke" already, i can't mess it up much. and if i can't figure out how to fix it, at least i know enough about it to be able to tell if it got "fixed" well enough to have to keep going back to the shop! <shrug>

sometimes my computer (mac that is)..stops functioning, by that imean i get this little circle turning and instead of it being black/white is seems to tryto be multicolored...turning , turning. I wait patiently , finally i say i am not suppose to be this long...i press esc..control/delete, etc...nothing happens...can't get to quit whereever..cause the circle is turning.
whaat is thebest way to stop that and continue or shut down.

remember i am the novice here..

sometimes my computer (mac that is)..stops functioning, by that imean i get this little circle turning and instead of it being black/white is seems to tryto be multicolored...turning , turning. I wait patiently , finally i say i am not suppose to be this long...i press esc..control/delete, etc...nothing happens...can't get to quit whereever..cause the circle is turning.
whaat is thebest way to stop that and continue or shut down.

remember i am the novice here..Please be patient with me: I'm a MacDummy. but a puter is a puter.

when does this occur? what are you trying to do when this happens? it sounds like an application is hanging because it can't get to something it needs, maybe because something else is doing something with what it wants. how many things are running?


(if your busy indicator is multi-colored instead of white, there are inconsistencies in your drivers somewhere. some sort of cross talk to your video subsystem (which makes sense since you are seeing it) ... thinking out loud, there ... )

it happens at diffrent times...sometimes i am trying to move from one address to another. sometimes i have been checking the scoreboards and i have minimized the gameplay, while trying to do something else. sometimes my computer says you shouldn't continue here because we have no certification and i try to leave and get stuck. sometimes i think someone is trying to get in and i can't move while they do...
and my busy indicator (thanks for the correct wording) is definitely multicolored...thedrivers?

hopethat helps brother mac

It is possible that you need to re-install your version of IE for the macintsoh, if you are using Internet Explorer. If you are using Safari, you may want to update your version.

Are you using OS X or OS 9?

this guy wants $150 to down load all the stuff off a hard drive and reformat it.
is that too much?


If the guy is giving you a new harddrive, and transferring all of your old System Software to the new drive for $150 it will be worth it, if you do not feel like doing it yourself. Make sure the drives size is at least 100Gigs.

If you want to do it yourself there is an easy solution :-)

You can use a program from Maxtor called MaxBlast. MaxBlast will copy the contents of your old drive to your new one for you. The program works best with Maxtor Drives of course, but Maxtor Drives are very cheap here is a link:

http://www.atacom.com/program/atacom.cgi?SEARCH=SEARCH_ALL&KEYWORDS=HDI9_MAXT

Here is a description and link to the MaxBlast Program:

"MaxBlast 4 is a one-step, ATA/IDE hard drive installation utility. MaxBlast 4 makes hard drive installations and upgrades hassle-free for novices and professionals alike by automatically identifying, partitioning, and formatting any Maxtor ATA or SATA hard drive, making it data-ready in minutes. MaxBlast 4 replaces all previous versions of MaxBlast and MaxBlast Plus."

http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.3c67e325e0a6b1f6294198b091346068/?channelpath=%2Fen_us%2FSupport%2FSoftware%20Downl oads%2FATA%20Hard%20Drives&downloadID=57

Great thread.

My issue is my CPU Usage is always at 100% and everything comes to a halt. The system processes and the few I have running stop responding.

How do I increase the CPU capacity?

Here is my info.. which part is my CPU ( that AMD chip )?


HP Notebook
AMD Athlon XP 1400+ 1.20Ghz, 240MB of RAM

Brother it sounds like you may have a lot of spyware on your machine.

You sould you use Adware Personal SE to remove spyware here is a link:

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5

Download and install and run to see if you have an spyware.

If you do not have a spyware issue, can you tell me what processes are running so that I can determine which program is causing you slow CPU usage. To do this right click on the taskbar and select task-manager and then click the process tab, and write down the processes that are using the most CPU.

You cannot incrase your CPU Capacity as far as usuage is concerned, you can get a faster processor and or more memory but all that will do is give those applications more stuff to hog up.

I will try your advice. My system locked up earlier as I was logging the processes. I did create a restore point.

Thanks Manasiac

Manasiac I cleaned out 418 nasty items. I Quarantined them. CPU Usage is down low.

Thanks for the info

Right on, Manasiac! This is exactly what I had hoped for when I created this thread!!


You sould you use Adware Personal SE to remove spyware here is a link:

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5

Download and install and run to see if you have an spyware.

Also, SpywareBlaster (http://javacoolsoftware.com/products.html) will give you some control over the ActiveX components that are at the root of most of the problems that folks have. Unfortunately, most of the so-called "cool stuff" on the web, (banking, sports/entertainment sites, some forum features and all too much more), make use of these things. But you gotta ask yourself; do you want all the features, or do you want a computing experience that is safer/cleaner/faster?

If you do not have a spyware issue, can you tell me what processes are running so that I can determine which program is causing you slow CPU usage. To do this right click on the taskbar and select task-manager and then click the process tab, and write down the processes that are using the most CPU. Thanks! I have not, nor will voluntarily ever, use XP, so I hesitate to point folks at places to find out the info needed to help them prevent problems.

Running processes is a big contributor to a slow or sluggish system. When windows fires up, it loads a lot of apps in the background so that they are there as soon as you want them. In the meantime, while you are not using them, they are still using memory space. Some of them are watching your puter to see when you do something that indicates you want to start them (listening for service calls); this uses up cpu (central processing unit - athlon, centrino, pentium4, ppc, g5, etc) cycles. ms office is real bad like this, as is winamp, the instant messenger clients (how many do you use?) and other stuff that sits down there in the "system tray" (that bit where the clock is. the whole thing is called a "task bar". over by the start button is an area called "the launcher".). Supposedly, these are running to save you a few seconds when you want to use them. It would make more resources available to what you are doing now if these things didn't auto-start. It doesn't take that long to fire up ms office when you need it. Startup Cop (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2097,00.asp) is a good utility to keep an eye on what starts, when. Another tool, Startup Monitor (http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml) will alert you when programs try to install things that want to auto-start.

Manasiac I cleaned out 418 nasty items. I Quarantined them. CPU Usage is down low.

Thanks for the infoExcellent!!

Personally, I don't bother to quarantine them; I just throw them away. If they aren't on the puter, they can't "accidently" get re-installed. (Quarantining them encrypts them, so, supposedly, only ad-aware can read them, but them malicious software coders are tricky.)

Another thought: when deleting files, hold down the shift key while selecting delete (via whichever method that you do it) and the files will be deleted, rather than moved to the recycle bin.

Here is my info.. which part is my CPU ( that AMD chip )?

HP Notebook
AMD Athlon XP 1400+ 1.20Ghz, 240MB of RAMyep; the amd is your cpu. not a bad little box! it could do with a bit more ram, though. seems like stuff today wants 512meg to be really "spiffy", but will run just fine in that 240, doesn't it? (memory is generally in chunks of 64/128/256/512/1024Meg - I wonder if your graphics are using that other 16M? not important; just techy-curiosity.)

WOW!!!!!! What a GREAT ideal Brother anAfrican. Thus far I have not had to deal with any issues with this system....it's kinda new, however I am no stranger to such, I have another system sitting behind me right now that needs to be reformatted, so I was told. Anyhoo, if I find myself in need of some assistance, it's truly good to know that we have several sources right here in the family.

Much Love!!

WOW!!!!!! What a GREAT ideal Brother anAfrican. Thus far I have not had to deal with any issues with this system....it's kinda new, however I am no stranger to such, I have another system sitting behind me right now that needs to be reformatted, so I was told. Anyhoo, if I find myself in need of some assistance, it's truly good to know that we have several sources right here in the family.

Much Love!!What is that other box? Would you like to play with it and get to know a bit more about this stuff?

Well.....I guess that would be a good thing, huh....for right now I kinda just look at it.....my son uses it to play games. I am running XP on that one. I think a virus shut that one down...right now there is no internet connection on that system. Will it take a long time to trouble shoot?

Excellent!!

Personally, I don't bother to quarantine them; I just throw them away. If they aren't on the puter, they can't "accidently" get re-installed. (Quarantining them encrypts them, so, supposedly, only ad-aware can read them, but them malicious software coders are tricky.)

Another thought: when deleting files, hold down the shift key while selecting delete (via whichever method that you do it) and the files will be deleted, rather than moved to the recycle bin.

That was the default choice. I need to read the help section to fully use this tool. My CPU is down below 10% and hasn't gone above 75%. I'm surfing like a pro again.

thank you manasiac...
I have no idea .. what would be a clue to help me understand if i need to install newer versions (what has been happening?)
Once I figure out how to install newer versions i will do that..
and I believe i have OS X

thanks for help and to my discovery of this puter thing...spyware? I am learning...Keep it up you two..

thank you manasiac...
I have no idea .. what would be a clue to help me understand if i need to install newer versions (what has been happening?)
Once I figure out how to install newer versions i will do that..
and I believe i have OS X

thanks for help and to my discovery of this puter thing...spyware? I am learning...Keep it up you two..Where ever possible, I would advise against ms products, period. Unfortunately, in order to "make the big bucks" ms has convinced the computer industry to cripple hardware and software unless it "conforms" to ms' monopolistic megalomania ... which makes it pret... no, make that VERY, difficult to get away from it. Heck, I've been ms free for years and I still get stuck real hard: gotta do w98 to watch DVDs, and to get into the video chat room here. But that's just my opinion; someone that isn't interested in getting your money or selling you anything or anything other than your being able to enjoy that tool. <shrug>

I will say to get rid of internet explorer! Download and install the Mozilla suite (web, mail, chat), or the Firefox (ttp://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/) browser. (the suite can be found at the same site, someplace, i'm sure.)

Whichever browser one uses, one should take some time to look through the various menus (file, edit, view, tools, options, help) and especially look through ALL of the preferences choices.

I've tossed up some malware options, but those are for PCs; if anyone knows of any links to relevant Mac tools, please share them!

Okay anafrican..here i am via mozilla...would you walk me thru how i can play music in the chat room, even tho i don't have a mike...
do i have to download onto my computer (i guess i have to read how to do that...but i can read so ...) or do I have other things to do..

2ndly...i have a scanning printer...walk me thru how i can scan/transfer pics onto this site, lets say...or bring my own avatar in..
I know simple things...but like the turtle.......

Okay anafrican..here i am via mozilla...would you walk me thru how i can play music in the chat room, even tho i don't have a mike...
do i have to download onto my computer (i guess i have to read how to do that...but i can read so ...) or do I have other things to do..one can play music without having a mic, since the music is coming from your sound card directly to the room. in fact, having one's mic on can cause feedback issues if you are using your speakers to listen to what you are playing. there is a post in the Video Chat Orientation thread in the Voice Chat forum that introduces music playing (http://destee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=359392&postcount=10). but it looks like we may have a step or two before we get there?

you can play CDs without having to download anything. actually, you don't really have to download anything, anyway, unless you want to use a particular media player. however, in some ways it might be easier, or more convenient, to "rip" your CD library onto your computer. and now, i suppose i've got you seriously scratching your head, eh?

why don't you start with that link and see what you can make of that, ok?

2ndly...i have a scanning printer...walk me thru how i can scan/transfer pics onto this site, lets say...or bring my own avatar in..
I know simple things...but like the turtle.......ok, you do have an avatar so, essentially, you do know how to select an avatar. on that page, there is the option of selecting an avatar from someplace other than the selections given. that bottom selection, where it says "browse" will allow you to get one from your home computer, provided it fits the criteria listed: 200 x 200 pixels or less than 25KiloBytes. if you go to where you have your pics saved, you can select a pic (single click) and then select Properties to see what size it is. i think that you can also find this out in whatever picture viewing program you use by looking at the "info" or "properties" of the pic. using the viewing program, you can also adjust the pic to the size you want.

do you have a pic that fits this? not sure, but i think that when one scans a picture, one can select the dimensions and file type of the picture? are you cool with scanning a picture and getting to it after it is saved? have you experimented with different ways to save the scanned image? which program do you use for scanning? for viewing pictures?

yeah, "baby steps": let's see where these first steps lead to, and then move on to the next steps.